The Car Wreck
by i-love-svu
Summary: Julie and Kirsten are at the bottom of a ravine. How did they get there?
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: Just one of the many JuKi stories I have on my computer. Reviews are greatly appreciated. :)

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Kirsten had no idea how her car had ended upside-down. She wasn't sure where she was, or why she was there. The blond was completely lost. Assessing the situation, Kirsten did figure out that yes, she was upside down. The roof of her once-shiny Lexus was dented in from the weight of the upturned car. Kirsten's mind was spinning with thoughts and possible ways to get out of her current situation. As she sorted through the clutter in her mind, a groan from the passenger seat made Kirsten look toward the noise.

The crumpled form of Julie Cooper occupied the seat. Her brunette hair looked limp, and her skin was pale. Kirsten's heart began to race. Was Julie dead? The blond watched Julie's chest slowly rise a few times before forcing herself to calm down. As long as Julie was breathing, everything was okay. Kirsten's eyes traveled back up to Julie's face, as she prayed to see her best friend's green eyes open. The eyes she longed to see were still closed but something else caught Kirsten's attention. A gash on Julie's head was trickling blood onto the floor. Although the contusion was not very big, it had already developed purple bruises and they only made it look worse.

"Julie, can you hear me?" Kirsten's voice didn't sound like her own. It sounded harsh, slightly rasping. Something was wrong and she knew it. With her right hand, Kirsten reached out to touch Julie's arm. The brunette's skin was cold, but Kirsten didn't panic. She kept her cool to the best of her ability. If they were going to get out of this, Kirsten knew she had to stay calm. "Julie, open your eyes."

Another groan from the female passenger followed Kirsten's command. It wasn't what the blond had been hoping for, but it was a noise and as long as Julie was able to respond, whether that meant opening her eyes or softly groaning, Kirsten wasn't complaining. She wasn't thrilled with their situation, but if she was able to keep Julie alive and breathing, then the alert and focused woman knew she would be able to figure a way out of wherever they were. _If only I could think straight, _Kirsten mentally added to the disorder in her mind.

The blond did realize that she and Julie needed to get out of the car as soon as they could. Kirsten tried to open her door, but it wouldn't budge. She couldn't reach the handle on Julie's door, which made her plan impossible. If she couldn't get the doors open, how where they going to get out? A sharp pain suddenly struck Kirsten's leg, causing her to cry out. She didn't know what was causing the agony, but she wanted it to stop. Kirsten was the one to groan this time as a twinge of pain shot through her entire body.

Somewhere between the cries of pain and Kirsten violently shaking Julie, the brunette was finally fully alert. It took Julie a moment to gain her bearings, which was to be expected considering that she was trapped in an upside-down car. Her eyes were wide with alarm as she watched Kirsten arch her back in anguish.

"Julie, help me." It was now Kirsten's face that was pale. She looked over at Julie desperately, and was obviously in more pain that she could handle.

The brunette's first instinct was to try her door. Unlike the driver's side, the passenger door popped open right away. Julie wasn't sure what to do next, but she did her best to keep Kirsten calm.

"I'm going to get out and see if I can open your door," Julie explained, trying to form a plan as quickly as possible. It wasn't exactly easy to figure out what to do when she really had no idea what was going on. Julie carefully unfastened her seatbelt and slid to the floor, or what was actually the ceiling since they were upturned, and sat there for just a minute. The brunette wanted to make sure she could get out without injuring herself, because the last thing they needed was to both be injured at once. Outside of the car door, Julie saw several large rocks. Being cautious, Julie put on foot out of the door and placed it firmly upon the rock. Once her strength had been gathered, the brunette outstretched her other leg. She was now standing up, looking all around her for any signs of help.

The car was at the bottom of what appeared to be a ravine. Surrounded by rocks and tiny patches of grass, Julie lost all hope of someone finding them. She remembered that Kirsten was in pain and began to go around the back of the car. The steps she took were small, and she tried to stay calm. Julie had no idea what do to, but she didn't let that affect the fact that she needed to help Kirsten. She would simply do her best and hopefully things would go smoothly.

With a shaky breath, Julie knelt next to the driver's side door. Her green eyes examined the dented metal for anything that would indicate why Kirsten was experiencing the obvious agony. When nothing appeared on the outside of the door, Julie carefully shifted so she was lying on the massive rock. She could now see Kirsten and began talking to the blond. Because of the broken windows, it was easy for the women to hear each other, but Julie had to be careful to avoid the shattered glass as she tried to calm her friend.

"What do you see?" Kirsten asked through gritted teeth. Her icy blue eyes were closed as she fought to stop herself from crying.

Julie sighed as she glanced up at the door one more time. "Nothing. There isn't a thing out here that is helping me," The brunette's face fell. "What do we do now?"

Kirsten, the ever strong one, tried to form a way to escape the ruins of her crushed car. Her body and mind were so overloaded with the agony that she couldn't think clearly, at least not at first. Finally an idea popped into Kirsten's head, but she wasn't sure whether it would work or not.

"Get back in the car," The blond said suddenly. Almost instantly Julie was back in the car, sitting with her legs crossed and her head bent to avoid the low clearance of the wrecked vehicle.

"Lie down, and tell me if you can see anything by my leg," Kirsten's plan tumbled from her lips automatically

Doing as Kirsten had told her, Julie moved to lie on her back. She pulled herself toward the broken window because that was closest to Kirsten's leg. Julie's eyes raked the scene before her, until at last, she spotted something. She did a double take to make sure her eyes weren't playing tricks on her, and had to swallow. Kirsten's left pant leg was soaked with crimson blood, and beginning to drip onto the floor.

"Well?" Kirsten softly inquired.

Julie sat up to face the blond, her green eyes filled with worry. "I don't think it's good. We have to get you out of here."

Now it was Julie's turn to take charge. She unfastened Kirsten's seatbelt, her arms expertly placed to catch the blond as she fell from her seat. It seemed to be working at first, until Kirsten cried out. Julie immediately relinquished her hold, allowing Kirsten to lie on the floor of the car. While her body from her hips up was positioned on the floor, Kirsten's left leg was still suspended in mid-air. Tears began to stream down her face and her whimpers died away.

"Can you feel anything?" Julie gently placed a hand on Kirsten's shoulder, hoping that it would somewhat comfort the injured woman. "In your leg, I mean?"

Much to the brunette's dismay, Kirsten shook her head to signal that she could not feel a thing.

"I think something may be…stuck in my calf," Kirsten softly said. She no longer looked as though she were in pain, but this time it was fear that had etched itself onto her face.

Julie audibly swallowed at the statement. Now she really had no clue what to do. "What do you need me to do?"

She didn't voice it, but Kirsten was just as lost as Julie. The blond did not know what they needed to do, but she did know that it needed to be done soon. "Just sit there for a minute," Kirsten instructed Julie. "I'll try to get it free."

Kirsten struggled for a few moments, desperately attempting to get her injured leg free of its confines. When the effort appeared fruitless, the blond relaxed against the floor with a groan. She gathered her energy, resolving to try one last time. Kirsten placed her right foot against the dash and pushed as hard as she could. Just as she was about to give up for good, there was a slight tearing sound and Kirsten's leg was free.

All at once, the feeling came back to her limb just as quickly as it had left. The pain she had been experiencing earlier also returned, causing Kirsten to sob. Julie didn't waste anytime. She carefully took hold of Kirsten's shoulders and pulled her out of the car. They sat there for a moment on the giant rock as the blond silently assessed her injuries. Julie sat next to Kirsten, watching her examine the wound in her leg as if she were an experienced doctor.

"Here, take my coat." Julie said after a few moments of the silence. She shrugged the blue pullover jacket off of her shoulders and draped it around Kirsten. The blond gave her friend a grateful glance before returning her focus to her leg. It was the most horrid thing Kirsten had ever seen, and she knew that without a doubt. From her knee all the way down to her ankle, there was a large cut that was bleeding. She grimaced, from both the pain and the sight of it.

"Julie, you have to go for help," Kirsten suddenly said. "Just… go find a payphone or something."

The brunette felt instantly skeptical. There was no way she would voluntarily leave Kirsten alone and injured in the bottom of a ravine. Julie knew she wouldn't be able to do it. "I can't," Julie replied, her tone matching the softness of Kirsten's. "I can't leave you here."

Although Kirsten knew that the brunette wanted to stay there and make sure that her friend was safe, Kirsten just wanted Julie to leave. It was obvious that they needed help. Kirsten wasn't exactly going to be able to walk out of the ravine. Why was Julie making the situation more complicated? With a mixed sigh and groan, Kirsten pulled her uninjured knee to her chest. It wasn't easy juggling her emotions and the pain that was filling her entire body.

"Julie," The blond looked up at best friend with teary eyes. "Please go find someone to get us out of here."

Swallowing her fear, Julie quickly nodded. As much as she wanted to stay there with Kirsten, the brunette did realize that they needed help. Julie's legs were numb as she stood up but she managed to ignore the tingling feeling.

"I'll be back in just a little while," Julie whispered. She knelt down next to Kirsten and gave the blond a firm hug. "Don't move, okay? And keep that coat on."

As Julie started up the rocky hillside, she began frequently glancing over her shoulder at Kirsten. She hoped that at any moment, she would awake from the nightmare and would be in the comfort of her own bed. As Julie slid on one of the large rocks, she knew that it wasn't a dream. The entire horrible situation was really happening.

The women, both the one exiting the ravine and the one trapped in it, knew that given the circumstances, finding help was going to take a while. Kirsten, her injured leg slowly growing numb, hummed quietly to herself to ward off the silence. And Julie, who was trying not to fall back down into the rocky grave of the ravine, attempted to figure out what she would do once she was on the street. They both, although silently and to themselves, decided that they would figure things out as they happened.

The worst was over. Julie and Kirsten were sure of it. They didn't know what to expect next, and didn't bother getting their hopes up that it would be anything good. Instead, Julie focused on finding someone to get Kirsten out of the ravine and the blond tried not to think about the damage that had been done to her leg. As long as they both managed to get somewhere safe without sustaining any further injuries, that was all that mattered. And anything after that would be dealt with when they reached it.


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note: This is rushed and AU. My apologies to you all.

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Kirsten had lost track of time. She knew that Julie had been gone a long time, she just wasn't sure how long it had been. The loss of blood had made Kirsten woozy, and she took that to mean that she had lost a lot of blood.

"Julie, where are you?" The blond softly wondered aloud. She was starting to grow restless, the solitude and undecided fate of her situation making her feel oddly tired. Ever since she had been a little girl, Kirsten had always liked to be in control of the things around her. Now trapped in a ravine with a gash on her leg, Kirsten realized that she didn't have control of anything around her and knew that the fact was contributing to her anxiousness.

The pain her in leg had long ago disappeared, and the feeling replaced by an unsettling numbness. Kirsten didn't know what to do. She just wanted to go out of the ravine, to go home and hug Sandy until she felt better.

A whirring sound suddenly filled the air around her and Kirsten looked up at the sky on instinct. Her icy blue eyes scanned the darkening sky for any indication of what was causing the sound, when she spotted something. She identified the source of the growing sound as a helicopter, which briefly confused the blond. Then, as the helicopter finally reached her and hovered several hundred feet over her, Kirsten realized what was going on. She smiled, the realization that Julie had found help making the blond feel a little better.

"Mrs. Cohen, just hang tight." The voice drowned out the sounds of the helicopter, startling Kirsten. "We're going to help you, just be still."

Kirsten, although worried by the extremely loud voice, did as she was told. She watched with intrigue as two men rappelled out of the helicopter, the ropes their belts were attached to moving gently from the wind that was created by the quickly rotating blades of the helicopter. The men landed near Kirsten, each giving her a comforting smile before approaching her.

"That looks bad," The first man observed as he gestured to Kirsten's leg.

"It doesn't hurt," Kirsten replied. She pulled Julie's jacket tighter around her shoulders, feeling the cold effects of the wind.

The men carefully lifted Kirsten onto an odd looking orange board and instructed her to lie down. As Kirsten straightened her injured leg out when she laid down, she felt the pain return and winced.

"We'll get that taken care of soon," The second man comforted. Kirsten saw something vaguely familiar in the man's eyes, something that reminded her of Sandy, and her tension ease.

Once Kirsten was lying down, the men carefully strapped her to the board. It didn't take them very long to finish the task, and the first man began talking once again but Kirsten had trouble understanding his words. They seemed far away, slightly distorted, but she tried her best to comprehend the words.

"Just relax, and we'll be at the hospital before you know it."

Kirsten nodded to show that she had understood. She slowly slipped into the darkness and the last thing she remembered was being lifted off of the ground.

"_The doctor said she's fine. She's just sleeping."_

"_I wish she would wake up. I need to know she's okay."_

Kirsten heard the voices around her and could identify them, but she couldn't seem to open her eyes. She was exhausted and just wanted to sleep for a while.

"_I'm rather interested to see how she explains this whole thing. Getting her car stuck in the bottom of a ravine takes a lot of skill."_

Upon hearing that statement, Kirsten forced her blue orbs open. There was no way that she was going to just let someone say something like that about her and not reprimand them.

"Sanford Cohen," The blond began, her voice sounding hoarse. "Don't say that about sort of thing about me while I'm unconscious."

She smiled up at Sandy as he gently kissed her forehead. "I was just teasing," Sandy replied with a grin.

"KiKi, I'm so glad you're okay!" Another voice exclaimed from the opposite side of Kirsten's bed.

The blond glanced over and saw Julie sitting in a green plastic chair, looking rather shaken and upset. "Hey, I'm fine," Kirsten smiled. "Thank you for everything, Julie."

Kirsten knew that she should have said more, but the words seemed to escape her. She hoped that her brunette friend wouldn't mind the brief statement.

Julie leapt from her chair and gently hugged Kirsten. The two women had survived an ordeal that could have been a lot worse, and they were extremely thankful to still be alive. Julie was happy that she had been able to get help and to get Kirsten out of that ravine, while Kirsten was glad that she had such an amazing friend. And together, both Julie and Kirsten were thrilled that their friendship hadn't suffered. Alone, they were powerful and able to deal with anything. But together, they were unstoppable, and that was one thing they knew that they couldn't live without.


End file.
